A couple days ago, I was sitting with one of our newer staff, and they were clearly talking to an agitated debtor, trying to get a word in edgewise and calm them down.
“Sir,
Sir, Sir, Sir!”
This is not going to work.
First, if someone is all wound up, calling them ‘sir’ only accentuates that they are the ones who have authority in this call. It also lacks a personal connection. What you really want is the person on the end of the other phone to take a moment, stop for a breath, and reset the conversation.
Call them directly by their first name.
“Jeff.”
Do it calmly, and slowly. If they are still going on, try saying something along the lines of,
“Jeff,
can we take a minute and start over?”
If that doesn’t work, speaking faster or louder isn’t going to regain control of the call. As well, when people get excited the pitch of their voice goes up – it’s natural that you mirror that. Try to keep your pitch normal, it will often cut through the stress.
If you can’t regain control of a call with a stressed debtor, it will inevitably end, likely with the consumer hanging up. If that happens, do not call them right back – they’re still stressed. Give it a day, and either call them back, or email or text them with something along the lines of:
“Jeff,
we didn’t work out a solution yesterday, can we start over? I’d like to help, give me a call at 555-666-1212
or email me at blair@receivableaccounts.com.
Remember, if you are in conflict with a debtor, you can’t discuss solutions, you can’t resolve the account. First things, first, get the debtor to calm down and engage.
Thanks kindly,
Blair DeMarco-Wettlaufer
KINGSTON Data & Credit
226-946-1730
